Radiation Therapy News and Research

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Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy, x-ray therapy, or irradiation) is the use of a certain type of energy (called ionizing radiation) to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy injures or destroys cells in the area being treated (the “target tissue”) by damaging their genetic material, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow and divide. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, most normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to nearby healthy tissue.

Tetracaine mouthwash helps with pain linked to head and neck cancer

Doctors in Italy are studying whether a new type of mouthwash will help alleviate pain for patients suffering from head and neck cancer who were treated with radiation therapy, according to a study published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics

13 Feb 2006

Radiation therapy cures lung cancer

According to the Global Lung Cancer Coalition, each year ten million people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and half of all patients die within a year of diagnosis.

24 Jan 2006

Palliative radiation cures some lung cancer patients

About one in a hundred patients with apparently incurable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survive five or more years after being given relatively small doses of radiation therapy (RT) meant to ease symptoms, according to a new study.

23 Jan 2006

“Optimal” radiation therapy best bet for surviving breast cancer

Although radiation therapy following a mastectomy is known to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring, the effect of radiation therapy on survival has long been controversial.

11 Jan 2006

rhTSH combined with radiation therapy successfully destroys remaining thyroid tissue

A multicenter international study, including Johns Hopkins, has found that after surgery for thyroid cancer, giving genetically engineered human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH) before radioiodine treatment avoids the previous need to stop thyroid replacement therapy and the miserable side effects that go with it.

9 Jan 2006

New radiation therapy for prostate cancer has fewer side effects

A new radiation therapy for prostate cancer -- Cesium-131 brachytherapy -- has fewer side effects than other treatments. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is the only hospital in the Northeast to offer the new therapy.

5 Jan 2006

One day radiation may become an option for breast cancer patients

Doctors in Canada are studying the effectiveness of permanent radiation seed implants following lumpectomy as an alternative to whole or partial breast irradiation for early-stage breast cancer patients

4 Jan 2006

One-half of cancer patients continue to smoke after diagnosis

A pair of articles from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center makes the case that patients would receive better care if physicians and researchers would address the issue of tobacco use after a cancer diagnosis and monitor tobacco use during clinical trials that test new agents.

28 Nov 2005

Megestrol acetate may combat weight loss during radiation treatments

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues shows that a drug originally used to treat breast cancer may help combat the severe weight loss that can plague patients undergoing radiation treatment for lung and head and neck cancer.

28 Nov 2005

Distance to radiation facilities has an inverse relationship with breast-conserving surgery with radiation use

The farther away a woman lives from a radiation therapy facility, the less likely she is to get lumpectomy with adjuvant radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer, and may instead get mastectomy, according to a new study.

28 Nov 2005

$Radiotherapy for certain cancers increases the risk of pelvic fractures$

Radiotherapy for certain cancers increases the risk of pelvic fractures

A new study suggests that older women who receive pelvic radiation treatment for cervical, anal or rectal cancer may have an increased risk of pelvic fracture.

24 Nov 2005

Cancer survivors require tailored follow-up plans

Citing shortfalls in the care currently provided to the country's 10 million cancer survivors, a new report recommends that each cancer patient receive a "survivorship care plan."

13 Nov 2005

Young scientists turn to gel to ease side-effects of cancer treatment

Three young scientists in the University of York’s Department of Chemistry have developed a gel that could spare cancer patients some of the unpleasant and dangerous side-effects of radiotherapy.

8 Nov 2005

Sensors, a smart dose of medicine for cancer treatment

New sensor systems being developed will help treat cancer and improve the accuracy and reliability of existing radiation treatments. They should help improve patient care and outcomes. The results will go straight to commercialisation when finalised next year.

7 Nov 2005

Combination of radiotherapy and a drug named S247 as a cure for cancer

Does a combination of radiation therapy and the inhibition of integrins (key molecules in angiogenesis) improve the chance of cure in cancer?

3 Nov 2005

Functional diffusion map to help predict brain tumor outcomes

A special type of MRI scan that measures the movement of water molecules through the brain can help doctors determine halfway through treatment whether it will successfully shrink the tumor or a patient's cancer will continue to grow, a new study shows.

1 Nov 2005

Stereotactic body radiation therapy safe and effective way to treat early stage lung cancer in medically inoperable patients

Lung cancer patients with extenuating health problems may have an alternative to traditional radiation therapy through a lung-sparing procedure pioneered at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

1 Nov 2005

Benefit of combining radiation and hormone therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer

Doctors in Canada have discovered that treating high-risk prostate cancer patients with radiation therapy and adding hormone therapy for more than one year allows patients to live longer, have better control of their prostate specific antigen levels and lowers the rate of death specifically from prostate cancer

1 Nov 2005

Can strength-training exercises reduce or prevent lymphedema symptoms in breast cancer?

In a novel research study to begin this week at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, will help to determine the extent to which a slowly progressive program of strength-training exercises is safe for breast cancer survivors with and without symptoms of lymphedema.

25 Oct 2005

Physical and emotional impact of breast cancer

The psychological and physical effects of breast cancer are being examined in a first-time study that tracks women in the first five years following their diagnosis.

25 Oct 2005